Mitsui Aika
|birthdate = |birthplace = |bloodtype = O |zodiac = |height = 157cm |shoesize = |genre = J-Pop |occupation = Idol, Singer, Actress, Model |active = 2006–2013, 2015–2016 (on hiatus) |agency = (2006-2012) (2012-) |label = zetima UP-FRONT WORKS |mcolor = |generation = 8th Generation |acts = Morning Musume, Athena & Robikerottsu, Guardians 4, Tanpopo#, GREEN FIELDS, Hello! Project Mobekimasu |blog = |join = December 10, 2006 |debutsingle = Egao YES Nude |lastsingle = Ren'ai Hunter |graduate = May 18, 2012 |autograph = }} Mitsui Aika (光井愛佳) is a Japanese pop singer. She was a member of Morning Musume, joining as a member of the eighth generation from the audition in Japan during December 2006. Mitsui's audition process was documented during the late 2006 episodes of Hello! Morning. She performed Hamasaki Ayumi's "Blue Bird" in round one of her audition and Morning Musume's "Furusato" and "Osaka Koi no Uta" in rounds two and three. After suffering a leg fracture, she was unable to keep up with a new dance oriented Morning Musume, and graduated alongside Niigaki Risa. However, she stayed within Hello! Project, and was the first to do so since 2007. She is now considered a soloist under Hello! Project, but has been on hiatus twice since 2013 to study English in New Zealand. Biography ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] Early Life Mitsui Aika was born on January 12, 1993 in Hyogo, Japan and was raised in Shiga Prefecture. Her father is Mitsui Yasuo, a Buddhist monk. 2006 On December 10, she alone out of five (originally six) audition finalists were chosen to join Morning Musume.Tsunku. "モーニング娘。第８期メンバー加入のお知らせ" (in Japanese). Hello! Project Official Website. 2006-12-11. An article published on December 11, revealed that Mitsui wouldn't be present in the 57th edition of Kōhaku Uta Gassen, but would instead be featured in the group's 32nd single, "Egao YES Nude," which was released on February 14, 2007. 2007 Mitsui made her first public appearance in the last round of the 2007 Hello! Project winter concert tour, which took place between January 27 and January 28, at Yokohama Arena. Her first appearance at a non-Hello! Project related event took place on February 8, on Utaban, as part of Morning Musume. She also took part in Morning Musume Concert Tour 2007 Haru ~SEXY 8 Beat~. One week after the results of Happy 8 Ki Audition were announced, Mitsui was featured in a small segment of Hello! Morning which included footage from a press conference given on the 11th. During the conference, Mitsui revealed her goal of captivating the public by means of her cheerful personality and smile, emulating fellow member Kusumi Koharu, whom she admired and strived to equal or surpass. Following her concert debut, Mitsui was also featured in a small segment of the Oha Suta morning program entitled "Arigatou wo Tsutaetai" (I Want to Express My Gratitude), which portrayed a fictionalized account of the events following her first concert appearances, dealing with Mitsui's sadness over the fact that she had to part with her former classmates due to her becoming an idol. In October, Mitsui was placed in the unit Athena & Robikerottsu along with fellow Morning Musume member Niigaki Risa, as well as Nakajima Saki and Okai Chisato of ℃-ute. In the November 25 episode of Haromoni@, Mitsui received the voice role of Gurossan in the anime Kirarin☆Revolution, which starred Kusumi Koharu as the voice of the main character Kirari Tsukishima. 2008 On April 6, Hello! Project announced that Mitsui would not be able to perform in the 2008 spring tour due to her very poor health. Later in the week, it was discovered that she had suffered from acute appendicitis, and would be out of action for two additional weeks. She recovered and continued with her scheduled activities. On August 8th, Morning Musume collaborated with female theatre group Takarazuka to perform Cinderella the Musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein. Mitsui took on the role of a fairy, a town girl and a princess. 2009 It was announced that Morning Musume would be attending the annual anime convention, the Anime Expo in Los Angeles, California as Guests of Honor in July. All members of the current lineup, including Mitsui Aika, attended the event. Morning Musume held autograph sessions and a concert. The number of fans that attended the concert reached over 7,000 people. Mitsui opened a blog, only available to Official MM Fanclub members titled "Pastel Color Days." 2010 In December, Mitsui announced that her first photobook, 'Mittsi,' would be released. She had mentioned in several interviews before that she had wanted a photobook and was very happy at the announcement. 2011 On January 7, Mitsui played the main character in the horror movie, Real Kakurenbo (Hide and Seek). It was a direct to DVD release. On May 9, Mitsui was diagnosed with a left ankle bone fracture. After the Morning Musume concert prior, Mitsui complained of pain in her left foot, after which she went to the hospital where she was diagnosed with the injury. Mitsui was out of events almost the entire summer. She could not participate in the dance shots for Morning Musumes MV's "Kono Chikyuu no Heiwa wo Honki de Negatterun da yo!," "Pyocopyoco Ultra" or "Ren'ai Hunter" because of the injury. 2012 In January, Mitsui wrote in her blog that she was supposedly cured and ready to dance and perform on stage again. On January 12, on her birthday, Mitsui opened up an Ameblo blog. She was then the only Morning Musume member with two blogs. On April 1, she announced that she became a regular on the radio show Young Town, along with Michishige Sayumi. Many fans believed this to be an April Fools joke. At the end of April or the start of May, Mitsui had a doctors consultation where although her ankle had recovered from the fracture, she would not be able to continue as a member of Morning Musume due to intense movement of her ankle in dancing or concerts. On May 4, Mitsui announced her graduation from Morning Musume, but not from Hello! Project. She graduated alongside Niigaki Risa at the end of Morning Musume's 2012 spring concert tour, Morning Musume Concert Tour 2012 Haru ~Ultra Smart~ Niigaki Risa Mitsui Aika Sotsugyou Special."Mitsui Aika to graduate from Morning Musume". tokyohive. 2012-05-04."Morning Musume's Mitsui Aika reports her graduation to fans at a concert". tokyohive. 2012-05-06. | width = 70% | text =''Morning Musume 8th generation member Mitsui Aika will be graduating from the group at their “Morning Musume Concert Tour 2012 Spring ~Ultra Smart~ Niigaki Risa Graduation Special” concert on May 18th.'' After experiencing pain in her foot on May 9th of last year, she underwent a medical examination at the hospital and received a diagnosis of “a stress fracture in the left anklebone.” Due to her own strong feelings of wanting to continue as a member of Morning Musume, she concentrated on taking a rest from her activities and getting medical treatment until she was able to make a full recovery. However, after a medical examination on April 23rd of this year, the diagnosis was, “She’s reached a near complete recovery, but if she were to repeat an intense performance like she’s done in the past, there’s a likelihood of her ending up in the same condition.” With that diagnosis, as a result of a thorough discussion between the company and Mitsui herself, she has made the difficult decision to graduate early. Mitsui stated, ”I absolutely want to continue to be a part of Morning Musume, but if there’s a possibility of my injury reoccurring, we have many intense dances that I feel would make my activity as a member of Morning Musume difficult, and if in the near future it became that my left foot couldn’t completely heal, it would cause difficulty in my daily life from here on as well.” Having to resign in the middle of her time with Morning Musume has left Mitsui with a lack of closure, but while she is full of immensely regretful feelings, she will continue to seek medical treatment from this point forward and we are now consulting her to decide whether or not there is some work she can do within Hello! Project. We apologize to her fans for this sudden announcement, and we truly hope for your understanding.}} Mitsui Aika and Niigaki Risa concluded activities in Morning Musume by promoting "Ren'ai Hunter". On May 18, they both graduated from the group. In August, Mitsui participated in the Hello! Project Tanjou 15 Shuunen Kinen Live 2012 Natsu concert tour as a MC. In October, it was announced that Mitsui would be a member of the new SATOYAMA movement unit GREEN FIELDS, alongside Shimizu Saki and Miyazaki Yuka. On November 7, GREEN FIELDS released their first single, "Boys be ambitious!". It was the first single she had been featured in after graduating from Morning Musume. 2013 On March 2 and 3, Mitsui participated in the Forest For Rest ~SATOYAMA e Ikou~ SATOYAMA movement in YOKOHAMA. In March, it was announced that Mitsui would "graduate" from the radio show Young Town Doyoubi, and she was replaced by Iikubo Haruna beginning in April. Beginning on April 6, Mitsui became a regular on the radio show ALMA KAMINIITO Sound Map, replacing after he left . In May, Mitsui starred in the stage play Okujou Wonderland. From October 12 to 20, Mitsui performed in a play called Nettai Danshi 2 in Zenrosai Hall / Space Zero.Official Gekijyo Page At the end of the year, Mitsui announced her decision to suspend entertainment activities and study English abroad."元モー娘。光井愛佳活動休止" (in Japanese). Daily Sports online. 2013-12-31."ご報告。" (in Japanese). Mitsui Aika Official Blog. 2013-12-31. 2015 On April 24, Mitsui reported on her blog that she had returned to Japan."ただいまー^^" (in Japanese). Mitsui Aika Official Blog. 2014-04-24. Since her return she started writing English-language news and event reports for UP-FRONT LINK, UP-FRONT's international company news service. 2016 In late February, Mitsui accompanied Morning Musume '16 on their trip to Houston, Texas where they were main guests at Anime Matsuri 2016 from February 26 to 28.Suzuki Kanon. "光井さん♡ 鈴木香音" (in Japanese). Morning Musume Qki Official Blog. 2016-02-25."I'm in." (in Japanese and English). Mitsui Aika Official Blog. 2016-02-29. She also appeared at their concert as a MC. On July 5, Mitsui announced she would be returning to New Zealand to continue studying English."みなさんへ" (in Japanese). Mitsui Aika Official Blog. 2016-07-05. On December 30, she wrote an update on her blog. Her English had greatly improved and she had discovered her "new self". In other words, she had decided to attend a vocational school in New Zealand. In November, she took an IELTS test and scored 6 points more than the school's entrance requirement, and she would therefore be starting school in 2017."良いお年をー！" (in Japanese). Mitsui Aika Official Blog. 2016-12-30. Personal Life Family= She has an older sister. Mitsui was named by her grandmother. Mitsui also has a pet dog named LEO. |-|Health= Mitsui sometimes has an inhaler with her at concerts in case her breathing gets bad. On May 8, 2011, she fractured her left ankle and was in treatment for eight weeks. Recovery was completed after a year, but, since then, she no longer dances in concerts. Events that she missed due to her injury include: *5/14 & 5/15: NHK Osaka Hall *6/5: Kariya-shi Sougou Bunka Center *6/25, 6/26: Harmony Hall Zama *5/28-5/29: Michishige Sayumi, Tanaka Reina, Mitsui Aika Bus Tour in Toukai *6/6 & 6/9: Aika no ANNEX Event ~Pastel Color Days~ *6/10: Kuusa x Morning Musume Special Kouen *6/20: STAR digio presents Morning Musume Hatsuka no Kaishingeki Special |-|Education= When Mitsui joined Morning Musume, she was a first year middle school student. On December 31, at the Hello! Project COUNTDOWN PARTY 2013 ~GOOD BYE & HELLO!~, Mitsui announced that she will be on a hiatus starting the new year to studying English abroad starting in January. Mitsui later mentioned in the official Hello! Project website announcement that she will not leave Hello! Project during her hiatus.Mitsui Aika. "光井愛佳からの大事なお知らせ" (in Japanese). Hello! Project. 2013-12-31. |-|Nicknames= Here is a list of nicknames that was used to refer to Mitsui Aika: *'Mittsii' (みっつぃー): Official nickname, given her since joining Morning Musume. Used by members and fans. Profile Stats= *'Name:' Mitsui Aika (光井愛佳) *'Nicknames:' Mittsii (みっつぃー),Mittens , Aika (あいか), Micchi (みっち), Charles, Wan-chan *'Birth Date:' *'Birthplace:' Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, Japan *'Blood Type:' O *'Height:' 157 cm *'Hello! Project Status:' **2006-12-10: Member **2006-12-10: Morning Musume Member **2012-05-18: Graduated Morning Musume *' Status:' **2006-12-10: Member **2012-10-01: Transfered to *'Years in Morning Musume:' 5 Years *'Official Kaomoji:' 川=´┴｀） *'Former Morning Musume Color:' **'Light Purple' (2006-2012) *'Current Hello! Project Color:' **'Light Purple' (2012-Present) merchandise **'White' (2012-Present) concert promotions *'Audition Songs:' Blue Bird, Furusato, Osaka Koi no Uta *'Hello! Project Groups:' **Morning Musume (2006–2012) **Athena & Robikerottsu (2007–2008) **Guardians 4 (2009-2010) **Tanpopo # (2009-2012) **Muten Musume (2010) **Hello! Project Mobekimasu (2011-2012) **GREEN FIELDS (2012-2016) *'Concert Units:' **Wonderful Hearts (2008–2010) |-|Q&A= *'Favorite food:' Plums, strawberries, roast beef, kombu, cuttlefish, fried chicken, vegetables, fruits. *'Disliked food:' Chocolate, sponge cake *'Favorite color:' Black, gold and purple *'Favorite phrase:' "The heaven and the earth, unbeaten ☆" *'Special skill:' Massaging and keeping my room tidy Discography :See also: List:Mitsui Aika Discography Featured In Solo DVDs *2011.01.26 Mittsi (Image DVD) *2011.07.xx Aika no ANNEX Event~Pastel Colors Days (Fanclub DVD) *2012.xx.xx Aika no ANNEX Event~Pastel Colors Days 2 (Fanclub DVD) *2012.06.24 Morning Musume. Mitsui Aika Sotsugyou Memorial (DVD Magazine) Publications Solo Photobooks #2011.01.26 Aika (愛佳) Digital Photobooks *2011.12.02 Alo-Hello! Morning Musume 2011 (アロハロ！モーニング娘。2011) Magazines Cover girl *2007.01 B.L.T. Works Movies *2011 Real Kakurenbo Final (リアル隠れんぼファイナル) *2011 Keitai Deka The Movie 3: Morning Musume Kyuushutsu Daisakusen! ~ Pandora no Hako no Himitsu~ (ケータイ刑事　THE　MOVIE3　モーニング娘。救出大作戦！～パンドラの箱の秘密) TV Programs *2007 Hello! Morning (ハロー! モーニング) *2007–2008 Haromoni@ (ハロモニ@) *2008 Berikyuu! (ベリキュー!) *2008–2009 Yorosen! (よろセン!) *2010–2011 Bijo Gaku *2011–2012 Hello Pro! TIME (ハロプロ！ＴＩＭＥ) *2012–2013 Hello! SATOYAMA Life (ハロー！ＳＡＴＯＹＡＭＡライフ) TV Dramas *2010 Hanbun Esper (半分エスパー) Anime *2007 きらりん☆レボリューション (Kirarin☆Revolution) (guest role) Theater *2008 Cinderella the Musical (シンデレラ the ミュージカル) as fairy, etc. *2010 Fashionable (ファッショナブル) *2013 TOKUGAWA15 *2013 Okujou Wonderland (屋上ワンダーランド) (as Nakahara Yui) *2013 Hito okami The live playing shiata x kyuketsuki ~Katsuai no utage~(人狼 ザ・ライブプレイングシアター Ｘ 吸血鬼 〜渇愛の宴〜) *2013 Pochitto na. -Switching On Summer- (ポチッとな。-Switching On Summer-) *2013 Nettai Danshi 2 (熱帯男子2) *2013 Shiritsu Hasuhasu Jogakuin!! (私立ハスハス女学院!!) Internet *2011 Michishige Sayumi no "Mobekimasutte Nani??" (道重さゆみの『モベキマスってなに？？』) Radio *2007–2008 Morning Musume Mitsui Aika no, Ai say hello (モーニング娘。光井愛佳の、愛 say hello) (e-radio) *2012–2013 Young Town (ヤングタウン) *2012- SATOYAMA in KANAGAWA *2013- ALMA KAMINIITO Sound Map Trivia *She became good friends with Yoshizawa Hitomi, who adopted an "older sister" figure. *Her closest friends in Morning Musume were Michishige Sayumi and Tanaka Reina. *Niigaki Risa has an older sister relationship to Mitsui, partly because Niigaki's younger sister is much like Mitsui. *Her favorite number is 397 because it was her entry number in the audition. Her mother stated she won because it means bloom like a flower (sa ku na = 397). *She is the first member to have joined the group with braces. Shortly after joining, she had them removed. *Her family calls her "Aika-don" and "Aika-san." *Would like to teach Japanese because she said it's fun. *The nickname "Wan-chan" (meaning dog in Japanese) was given to her by Takahashi Ai and Kamei Eri when they were describing Mitsui in the Morning Musume DVD Vol. 23. *She is a big animal lover. *After the graduation of Mano Erina in February 2013, she was the only official Soloist in the Hello! Project. *She has a toy poodle named Leo. She also has a Siberian Husky, which she has proclaimed to be one of her dream pets. *She lives with her older sister and her older sister's boyfriend in Tokyo. *She has said that she would love to work with Arihara Kanna, former member of ℃-ute because many said they look alike and they get along well. *She is noted for wearing flat shoes for single costumes. One cause of not wearing high heels is rumored to be the operation she had earlier, possibly affecting her ability to dance with high-heeled shoes. *She proclaimed herself to be Kusumi Koharu's rival, the two were incredibly close. *Admitted that she was jealous of Junjun and Linlin when they first joined because no one talked to her when she joined and she felt lonely. *She is the first Morning Musume member to be the youngest in the group for 4 years, with no new members joining. *During Niigaki Risa's Yorosen!, the girls wrote letters to themselves ten years in the future. When Mitsui's letter was read aloud, the other members were impressed with how mature it sounded. *In Yorosen!, she taught Morning Musume about pets. *Has a scar on her stomach from when she had her appendix removed. *She and Hagiwara Mai are very good friends. *She was the only Morning Musume member not to appear in Suugaku♥Joshi Gakuen. *It was said that she missed Morning Musume Concert Tour 2011 Aki Ai Believe ~Takahashi Ai Graduation Memory Special~, but she came on the last day for Takahashi Ai's graduation ceremony in a wheelchair. *She said that if a thief came at her, Okai Chisato would protect her. *She is noted to get hurt the most out of members in Morning Musume. *She is the first Morning Musume member to have two blogs. *She mentored all of 9th Generation alone. *She is said to be strict towards 9th and 10th Generation members, but they kept a friendly relationship. *As of April 2011, she was still under treatment for her ankle, because of this she didn't participate in the Dance Shot of Kono Chikyuu no Heiwa wo Honki de Negatterun da yo!/Kare to Issho ni Omise ga Shitai!, Pyocopyoco Ultra, and Ren'ai Hunter. She also didn't participate in Tanaka Reina's, the 9th Generation's, and the 10th Generations' stage play for the same reason. *She is the last member of her generation to graduate. *She is the eleventh former Morning Musume member to only graduate from Morning Musume and not Hello! Project. The others being Nakazawa Yuko, Goto Maki, Yasuda Kei, Abe Natsumi, Tsuji Nozomi and Kago Ai, Iida Kaori, Ishikawa Rika, Konno Asami, Ogawa Makoto, Yoshizawa Hitomi and after Mistui, Sayashi Riho in that order. *She has expressed her desired to go scuba diving for the SATOUMI movement one day. Both Yoshizawa Hitomi and Ishikawa Rika have already tried it. *She said that if she could be another Hello! Project member, she would be Hello Pro Egg's Kudo Haruka because she is cute. ポケモーQ&A 2011.06.21 Kudo later thanked her for this at Mitsui's graduation ceremony. *In Hello! Project DVD Magazine Vol. 28 she was asked which Hello! Project member she would pick to be with in a sub-unit. She answered that she would choose Kudo Haruka because she always liked her, even when she was still an Egg, and because both of them have lower voices. See Also *Gallery:Mitsui Aika *List:Mitsui Aika Discography Featured In *List:Mitsui Aika Concert & Event Appearances Honorary Titles Reference External Links *J.P ROOM Profile *Hello! Project Profile *Offical Blog cs:Mitsui Aika de:Mitsui Aika es:Mitsui Aika fr:Mitsui Aika it:Mitsui Aika Category:Morning Musume Category:8th Generation Category:Wonderful Hearts Category:Athena & Robikerottsu Category:Guardians 4 Category:1993 Births Category:2006 Additions Category:Members from Shiga Category:Tanpopo Category:Youngest Morning Musume Member Category:Blood Type O Category:January Births Category:Hello! Project Mobekimasu Category:Morning Musume Graduates Category:Members born in Heisei Period Category:Up-Front Agency Category:Members born before Hello! Project's formation Category:Members featured in Hello! Pro Time Category:Members featured in Hello! SATOYAMA Life Category:Members featured in Hello! Morning Category:Members featured in Haromoni@ Category:Members featured on Utaban Category:Members featured in Yorosen! Category:Mitsui Aika Category:Members featured in Berikyuu! Category:Muten Musume Category:GREEN FIELDS Category:Light Purple Member Color Category:J.P. Room Category:Capricorn Category:Members featured in Hello! Project Station Category:Hiatus Category:Members who formerly attended university Category:Soloists